Black Christmas
by Little Miss Jigsaw
Summary: Vala was not okay. Vala would not be okay. Things would never be okay, ever again. Not after that night. Oneshot DV R&R!


Enjoy it... if you can

Black Christmas

The house is cold, empty, silent, dead. There is no laughter echoing from one of the three bedrooms, there is no boiling kettle in the kitchen, as Daniel gets too absorbed in his work, to remember that he put the water on for his tea in the first place. There are no squeals, as the girls race through the halls at warp speed, slipping in their socks, and ramming into the occasional wall, as they attempt to 'kill' each other with pillows. No Daniel, shouting for the girls to settle down, when he hears a particularly loud crash, generally signaling the end of one of his more fragile artifacts.

The pieces of the last case the girls had broken still lay in the trash bin, still with droplets of blood, from where both girls had cut their feet on the glass.

Shattered pieces, and blood drops. That's all that is left. No laughter, no kettle, no pillow fights, no Daniel, no October, no Eden... Vala is the only one left, and she hates it.

The glass in the bin brings back memories. Ones she wished would vanish, as she wraps herself in one of October's favorite blankets, and curls up on the couch with Eden's favorite toy, a mug of Daniel's favorite tea on the table in front of her. The glass. There had been a lot of it, that night. Glass, and blood. Sirens, and flashing lights. Vala chokes back a sob, burying her face against the stuffed patchwork rabbit she holds. It still smells like flowers... Eden had sprayed the toy with an entire bottle of perfume, once, and it had smelled like flowers since. Vala screams, as memories hit her again, the rabbit muffling the sound. She looks at the mug on the table, and suddenly, as if it is the tea's fault, she slams her hand into the ceramic, and sends the mug crashing into the wall, hot liquid instantly staining the pale carpet on the floor. She doesn't care.

How... Why... Cameron had often spoken of a higher power... A so-called God, who was supposedly so kind, and forgiving, and loving. Even if Vala had ever believed in such a god, she would, no longer. Not after that night. What God like that would have taken everything that Vala loved... Everything, and left her to live with it? Left her with no more than a few bumps and bruises, while everything else, shattered. She had shouted those very words at Cam, when he had tried to tell her that his grandma would say that there was a better place...

_Bullshit!_, Vala had screamed,_ That's bullshit and you know it! There is no better place, Cameron. Only higher planes of existence... And _they_ didn't go to one of those... They are _dead!_ Do you hear me?! They are fucking dead, and no mount of fucking faith is going to bring them back! So fuck you, and fuck your so called God, and get the hell out! Just GET OUT!_

She hasn't seen Cam, or Samantha, or Teal'c, since... No doubt Cam had warned his friends against trying to talk to her, for a while. Fine. Fuck 'em. Fuck the world. Everything else is fucked, anyway. It has been since that night...

The shattered mug still sits on the floor, the glass in the bin...

_The glass cuts into her skin, when she tries to move... When she tries to see what had happened to everyone else..._

The blood still stains the shards... still stains the floor of the hallway...

_Blood. Lots of it, everywhere. She can't hardly see the faces of her girls, or Daniel, through all the blood... _

The house is silent... Still... Nothing moving.

_October is still, not moving, not breathing, blood matting her brown hair, running into her open grey eyes. Eden is still, as well, no breath, black hair sticky with blood, blue eyes staring lifelessly at the world._

A floorboard creaks, and Vala prays, and hopes... But nothing comes of it...

_Daniel is the only one moving. He tries to reach for the girls, to check on them. Vala stops him. The girls are gone. He would join them, soon... Vala allows herself to hope, to pray that maybe, just maybe he won't._

The silence is broken, by the sound of the kettle, as it signals fresh water, for a new cup of tea...

_Sirens wail, lights flash. Vala doesn't notice or care, for just as they do, Daniel lets out his last breath. Vala holds Daniel, Eden, and October, as close as she can, considering, body shaking with sobs._

The doorbell rings. Vala doesn't want to answer. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. The only person she'd seen since shouting at Cam had left her afraid to open the door...

_Mrs. Jackson? I... You don't remember me... I was in that accident...I-I heard about your family... I'm so sorry. If... If I hadn't... Christ... I was being stupid... Your little girls... five years old...God, I'm sorry..._

Apologies from the woman who'd killed her family wouldn't bring them back... So Vala had slammed the door shut on the woman, and hadn't opened it since. She knew all to well how idiotic the woman had been, and the dire consequences.

_Mrs. Jackson, the woman in the other vehicle... she was only driving a mile or so above the speed limit... But, the ice on the road... _

The doorbell rings again. Vala sighs, and reluctantly goes to open the door, with a glance at the christmas tree that still sits in the corner, still decorated, still with bits of wrapping paper shredded, under it, and wayward bits of tape, and ribbon. She opens the door, to find Cam on the other side. She doesn't ask what he wants, she just lets him in. He doesn't speak either. He doesn't want an apology, he wants to know that his friend is okay. What ever okay means, anymore.

He, and the rest of the team feels the loss, too... Sam and Teal'c, and even General O'Neill... They had known Daniel for fifteen years. They'd all had a hand in raising Eden and October, in some way. They all loved them...

But, it can also be argued that they hadn't loved Daniel, or the girls, like Vala had, and did... Because they hadn't.

The house is still silent, still still, still dead, still dark, save for the lights on the tree... Vala is not okay. Vala will not be okay. Things will never be okay after this.

Stories often said, that if you were bad, Santa would only leave you a lump of coal on Christmas day. Vala Jackson can only guess that her past sins had caught up with her, that year. That "Santa" hadn't thought a lump of coal would be sufficient, for now, everything was gone, shattered, dead, all taken away...

All on a black Christmas day.

-----------------

Yes I am utterly horrible, when it comes to my oneshots... please don't ask why they all gotta be depressing... I've no clue...


End file.
